Penguin ‘toxicologists’ find PFAS chemicals in remote Patagonia
Study shows non-invasive way animals can help monitor their environment
image:
Magellanic penguins in Argentina served as sentinels of their own environment by wearing chemical-detecting leg bands for a few days during their breeding season in a UC Davis and SUNY-Buffalo study.
view moreCredit: Ralph Vanstreels/UC Davis
Penguins living along the Patagonian coast of Argentina can serve as living monitors of their environment by using small, chemical-detecting leg bands, according to a study from the University of California, Davis, and the State University of New York at Buffalo.
For the proof-of-concept study, published in the journal Earth: Environmental Sustainability, UC Davis scientists outfitted 54 Magellanic penguins with silicone passive samplers placed gently around their legs for a few days during the 2022-24 breeding seasons. The sensors safely absorbed chemicals from the water, air and surfaces the penguins encountered while the unwitting “toxicologists” foraged to feed their chicks.
Once retrieved, the samplers were sent to University at Buffalo-SUNY for testing, which revealed that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — often called “forever chemicals” — were detected in more than 90% of the bands, even in this remote region.
“The only way we’ve had of measuring pollutant exposure in the past is by getting blood samples or feathers,” said co-corresponding author Ralph Vanstreels, a wildlife veterinarian with the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center within the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine. “It’s exciting to have something that is only minimally invasive. The penguins are choosing the sample sites for us and letting us know where it’s important to monitor more deeply. As the animals go about their business, they’re telling us a lot about the environment they’re experiencing.”
Testing revealed a mixture of older legacy pollutants, as well as chemicals that replaced phased-out PFAS.
“By using a non‑invasive sampling approach, we were able to detect a shift from legacy PFAS to newer replacement chemicals in the penguins’ environment over time,” said senior author Diana Aga, a SUNY distinguished professor in the Department of Chemistry at University at Buffalo. “The presence of GenX and other replacement PFAS — chemicals typically associated with nearby industrial sources — shows that these compounds are not staying local but are reaching even the most remote ecosystems. This raises important concerns that newer PFAS, despite being designed as safer alternatives, are still persistent enough to spread globally and pose exposure risks to wildlife.”
Chemicals and conservation
The study provides an efficient, practical means of tracking the locations and times of chemical exposure, particularly in hard-to-sample aquatic environments. The authors envision the method being used to identify pollution exposure from oil spills, shipwrecks and other industrial sources.
“Moving forward, we’d like to increase our environmental detectives by expanding to different species,” Vanstreels said, adding that they next plan to test the method on cormorants, which can dive to depths of more than 250 feet.
“By turning penguins into sentinels of their environment, we have a powerful new way to communicate issues relevant for wildlife health and more broadly for the conservation of marine species and our oceans,” said coauthor Marcela Uhart, director of the Latin America Program within the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center.
Additional coauthors include first author Paige Montgomery and Katarzyna Kordas from University at Buffalo-SUNY; and Luciana Gallo, Gabriela Blanco and Flavio Quintana from Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas in Argentina (CONICET).
The study was funded by the Houston Zoo.
Subject of Research
Animals
Article Title
Penguins as Sentinel Species for Monitoring Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS): Evaluation of Silicone Passive Samplers as a Non-Invasive Tool
A chemical-sensing, silicone passive sampler is worn as an ankle band on this penguin in Argentina.
An adult Magellanic penguin stands with its chick during breeding season in Argentina.
Researchers deploy a chemical-sensing ankle band on a Magellanic penguin in Argentina.
Close-up of a chemical-sensing ankle band, or silicone passive sampler, on a penguin.
Magellanic penguins, like this one in Argentina, showed that penguins can help monitor their own environments by wearing small, retrievable leg bands that collect information about pollution they encounter.
Credit
Ralph Vanstreels/UC Davis
Study links PFAS exposure to weaker immune response, underscoring need for water protections
Michigan State University
Why this matters:
- PFAS are found in drinking water, food packaging and everyday household products.
- Exposure is widespread across the United States.
- The immune system is one of the most sensitive targets of PFAS exposure.
- This study suggests those effects may persist into adulthood — not just childhood.
- Findings reinforce the importance of strong drinking water standards and reducing exposure.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – New research finds that exposure to PFAS may weaken the immune system in adults, raising new concerns about the long-term health effects of these widely used chemicals.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a large class of human-made chemicals used in products ranging from nonstick cookware and stain-resistant fabrics to firefighting foams. Often called “forever chemicals,” they do not easily break down in the environment and can accumulate in the human body over time.
Some PFAS remain in the body for years. One compound highlighted in the study, perfluorohexanesulfonic acid, or PFHxS, can persist for nearly a decade, making it a particularly important marker of long-term exposure.
In a study of people previously exposed to PFAS through contaminated drinking water, researchers found that individuals with higher levels of the forever chemicals in their blood produced fewer protective antibodies when their immune systems encountered a new virus — a key measure of how effectively the body responds to infection.
“Antibodies act like tiny soldiers, helping the body recognize and fight off viruses,” said Courtney Carignan, senior author of the study and an environmental health researcher at Michigan State University.
When fewer of these “soldiers” are produced, the immune system may be less effective at fighting infection.
“These results raise important concerns about how long-term exposure to PFAS reduces the body’s ability to respond to infections, even in adulthood,” Carignan said.
The effect was strongest among older adults, men and people who were overweight — groups that often have higher PFAS levels in their bodies.
For some families, those effects are already a reality.
“When you find out your family has been exposed, it changes everything — especially how you think about your children’s health,” said Tobyn McNaughton, a Belmont, Michigan, mother whose family was affected by contaminated drinking water. “We’re poisoned people. We learned that some of my son’s childhood vaccines weren’t fully effective due to his compromised immune system, and that’s something no parent expects to face.”
McNaughton connected with Carignan in 2018 after high levels of PFAS were found in her family’s drinking water and has since become a clean water advocate with the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network, a group co-founded by her neighbor Sandy Wynn-Stelt that is centered and driven by people impacted by toxic PFAS pollution.
Carignan said McNaughton’s and others’ experiences reflect broader patterns seen in the data.
“Previous studies in adults have produced mixed results, in part because prior exposures and existing immunity can make responses difficult to isolate,” Carignan said. “The pandemic provided a rare opportunity to observe how the immune system responds to a new virus, allowing us to more clearly detect how PFAS exposure may influence antibody production and helping resolve long-standing uncertainty about its effects in adults. Our findings make clear that PFAS exposure can affect immune response in adults in addition to the known effects in children.”
The findings come as the United States continues to debate and implement new drinking water standards for PFAS. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized its first enforceable drinking water standards for certain PFAS chemicals in 2024, but implementation timelines and enforcement for some compounds have since shifted.
Carignan said the findings support efforts to reduce PFAS exposure — particularly through drinking water — and highlight the importance of continued monitoring and regulation.
“Exposure to PFAS is widespread, but it is also preventable,” Carignan said. “Reducing levels in drinking water is one of the most effective ways to lower exposure and protect public health.”
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Journal
Environmental Research
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Associations of serum PFAS with COVID-19 antibody levels among fully vaccinated adults
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